RUSH: Would you give me a break? You’re surprised that Page Six-type gossip is on the front page of the New York Times? Where have you been? How in the world can anybody be surprised at the New York Times? I cannot believe how everybody’s missing this! I even have guys from The Politico, Jonathan Martin saying, ‘You got a reaction?’ I sent him a couple paragraphs, and it’s being misinterpreted a bit. I guess I wasn’t clear enough. Anyway, greetings, folks. Here we are with another three hours of broadcast excellence at the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies. It’s great to have you with us. The telephone number is 800-282-2882. The e-mail address is ElRushbo@eibnet.com.
What have I always said that today is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? It is this: If you let the media make you, you are subjecting yourself to the media being able to destroy you. Senator McCain — the important thing about what has happened here in the New York Times, the only important thing to me — I don’t care what’s in this story. The story is not the story. The story is that this paper endorsed McCain, sat on this story and now puts it out just prior to McCain wrapping up the nomination. And McCain says he’s disappointed. Why? Why is anybody disappointed or surprised but this? They are who they are. A snake is a snake. A tiger is a tiger. The New York Times is the New York Times. Folks, if you expect me to be angry about the story and angry at the New York Times, you have tuned to the wrong radio show. I refuse to get mad when something I have predicted is going to happen, happens. I refuse to get mad when something I know is true, is true. It’s a total waste of energy.
The important question for John McCain today is, is he going to learn the right lesson from this, and what is the lesson? The lesson is liberals are to be defeated. You cannot walk across the aisle with them. You cannot reach across the aisle. You cannot welcome their media members on your bus and get all cozy with them and expect eternal love from them. You are a Republican. Whether you’re a conservative Republican or not, you are a Republican. At some point, the people you cozy up to, either to do legislation or to get cozy media stories, are going to turn on you. They are snakes. If the right lesson is not learned from this, then it will have proved to be of no value. There’s a great opportunity here for Senator McCain to learn the right lesson and understand who his friends are and who his enemies are. He’s had that backwards for way too long. He has thought the New York Times is his friend. He has thought Chris Matthews and these other people in the Drive-By Media are his friends. They aren’t. That’s the lesson today.
Senator McCain says that he’s disappointed here in the New York Times. Of course, I’m sure he’s disappointed. The question is, is he surprised? If he’s not surprised, that’s a positive. If he’s surprised by this, then we’ve got a problem, Houston, because he doesn’t understand who he’s dealing with. You know, Senator McCain has disappointed me a lot of times, accusing our intelligence officers of engaging in torture, calling people who opposed his amnesty bill nativists, supporting others who called us racists and so forth, people who opposed campaign finance reform as people unwilling to clean up corruption and so forth. You look at this, and you see it for exactly what it is. Now, here’s an interesting aspect here. You talk about the details of the story and how thinly sourced and all that. Yeah, right, yada yada. It’s the Drive-By Media, for crying out loud. It’s the New York Times reporting about a Republican. You know damn well a story like this wouldn’t run about Hillary or Obama, even Bill Clinton, a story like this wouldn’t run. If it did, it would be fawning. ‘Oh, there’s old randy Bill out there, still showing us he got some lead in the pencil here after the heart surgery. Oh, yeah!’
I don’t understand why it’s so hard for the people on the Republican Party side to understand who the enemy is and who they’re dealing with. This is another clear-cut illustration. But even now they’re tiptoeing around, don’t want to make ’em too mad because Senator McCain denied everything. He had a press conference today, denied everything. Better be right. You gotta ask yourself this about the New York Times. Did they put this story out as a singular story, or as their follow-up? You gotta figure they knew what was going to happen. You have to figure that they were aware of the firestorm that this would create. Do they have any more? Is there any more to the story? Are other people going to now start working it? Will they find anything? Will Senator McCain’s denials be brought back into question? Let’s listen to Senator McCain this morning. He’s in Toledo, Ohio, with his wife, Cindy, at a press conference. We have a couple sound bites.
MCCAIN: I’m very disappointed in the article. It’s not true. As has been pointed out, I’ve served this nation honorably for more than a half a century. When I was 17, I raised my hand and supported — said I would support and defend this nation, and I’ve had the honor of serving it ever since. At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust nor make a decision which in any way would not be in the public interest and would favor anyone or any organization.
RUSH: All right, so Senator McCain there says he’s very, very disappointed in the New York Times. Let’s not forget that during immigration battles, illegal immigration battles, this whole Abu Ghraib situation, and the ability to make our intelligence officers at Guantanamo Bay out to be torturers and so forth, and the call to close down Guantanamo Bay, where did all that stuff come from? The New York Times. Day in and day out. You know how many front-page stories there were on Abu Ghraib? And guess who was right there agreeing with everything they said? The New York Times’ favorite Republican, John McCain. I’m sure he’s disappointed. The question, is he going to learn the right lesson from this? That’s a great opportunity. If he can learn the right lesson from this and understand who his friends really are, then there may be a positive out of this. Now, folks, I understand, I’ve read my e-mail today, and I had conversations with people last night when the story first came out.
In fact, the theory last night, most people’s predictions last night was that this was going to finally rally conservatives to McCain. McCain couldn’t do it himself, but that the New York Times could and the Drive-By Media. I got some e-mails, ‘That’s it, Rush, I hadn’t planned on voting for McCain, but I’m going to send him some money now. I’m not going to sit here and let the New York Times destroy my candidate.’ Well, you let the New York Times pick your candidate. The media picked the Republican Party candidate this year, folks, whether you want to believe it or not, they did. Republicans didn’t, and so you see what happens. I want to go to back archives of this program, January 25th, 2008, this is what I said, this is my prediction.
RUSH ARCHIVE: But you have to know now that when you get down to November, the New York Times has a choice — let’s say it is McCain, say McCain gets the nomination. And, of course, Hillary gets the nomination for the Democrats. And the New York Times going to write an editorial endorsing who? Gotta get out of this mode here that our acceptance, or our arrival, or the fact that we’re making progress can be tracked by whether or not Democrats like some of us. Screw that! Because when it comes to the meat-cracking time down there in November on Election Day, they’re not going to vote for any of us, or our guys. So who cares what they say about them ever? The more they praise them, the more suspicious you gotta get, because they do not want our side to win. There is not one of them, from Matthews — I don’t care who it is in the Drive-By, not one of them that wants McCain to become president. If it happens, if an accident happens and by hook or by crook, Hillary would lose, McCain would be acceptable. But they wouldn’t be afraid of him. But the last thing they want is for him to actually win, any of our people.
RUSH: Yeah. And, of course, we had the New York Times story last night and in the paper this morning that clearly illustrates this. Here’s one more bite from Senator McCain.
MCCAIN: I’m proud of my record of service to this country. I’m proud of my service as chairman of the commerce committee, which has oversight of literally hundreds of issues, the largest committee in the United States Senate, in terms of jurisdiction, and I will continue to serve, and I will focus my attention in this campaign on the big issues, on the challenges that face this country, and I think that’s what the American people are very interested in hearing about. Again, I’m very disappointed in the New York Times piece. It’s not true.
RUSH: In the previous sound bite from Senator McCain that we just played, another section of his press conference this morning in Toledo, Ohio, he again reminded us that he has served the nation honorably for more than a half century. When he was 17 he raised his hand and supported to defend and protect the nation, had the honor of serving the country ever since. What? Military service is supposed to inoculate you from criticism? Ask General Petraeus about that. When are we going to learn our lessons? No, no. When are some in our party going to learn the lessons that you and I have known for years and years and years and years? David Brooks, Bill Kristol write for the New York Times. Their newspaper has attempted today to take out their boy. What are they going to do? Here’s Cindy McCain. She spoke also.
MRS. MCCAIN: Well, obviously, I’m very disappointed in the New York Times, and more importantly my children and I not only trust my husband, but know that he would never do anything to not only disappoint our family, but disappoint the people of America. He’s a man of great character, and I’m very, very disappointed in the New York Times.
RUSH: Well, it seems to be the slug line, ‘I’m very disappointed in the New York Times.’ Why? Where are the honest, understood expectations here? The story is not the story. The story is the Drive-By Media turning on it’s favorite maverick trying to take him out. The media picked the Republican candidate. The New York Times endorsed that candidate while they sat on this story, and now with utter predictability, they are trying to destroy him. This is what you get when you walk across the aisle and try to make these people your friends. Why should any of us be surprised or even angry at what the New York Times is doing here trying to take out John McCain? Those of you who listen regularly should have been expecting this all along because it’s utterly predictable. It’s as predictable as the sun rising in the morning. It’s as predictable as Ted Kennedy finding a bar at happy hour.